disneyfanonfandomcom-20200216-history
Numberjacks
Numberjacks is a British children's television series that originally aired on CBeebies on BBC Two in the UK between October 20061 and 2009 and 2018-, and on the CBeebies channel also. It was first shown on BBC Two at 10 am on 16 October 2006. It was then repeated on CBeebies in the United Kingdom and on Nick Jr. at 11 am and 3 pm on the same day. BBC Two only showed it for a week due to the half term break and then the future episodes were shown on CBeebies at 11am. Re-runs of the episodes were shown regularly on CBeebies (when it was on BBC Two, it was only on occasionally, and when it first appeared, it was only on for a week) until October 2015 (Reruns of Season 3 continue). It was produced by Open Mind Productions for the BBC and features a mixture of computer-generated animation and live-action. The show has a swing of science fiction in it, as the Numbers take residence in a couch in a house, everything around them moves of its own accord, and humans must be scarce at launching time. Synopsis The Numberjacks are animated characters (the numbers 0 to 9) who live in an ordinary sofa and solve problems outside; each episode has the same structure. At the beginning of the episode, some of the Numberjacks are engaged in an activity, that would have relevance to the problem that is later discovered - then, an agent (who was a live-action child) calls in and describes the problem that is occurring. One (or two) of the Numberjacks go out into the real world to solve the problem while the other Numberjacks stay in the sofa and watch their progress on a screen. As soon as the problem is understood, Five imagines what else could go wrong if the problem wasn't solved (often wondering what would happen to the Dancing Cow, who never actually made any physical appearance in the real world). Once outside, the Numberjacks are shown in a live-action setting (although themselves still animated); they diagnose their problems by examination, and with help from additional ideas from the agents, who call into the base. The problem can either be caused by one of the antagonists, or one of the younger Numberjacks (Zero, One, or Two) escaping from the sofa and inadvertently making things go wrong. Problems are solved by using Brain Gain, a magical force of power activated by use of a machine in the sofa and transferred to the Numberjack. Once the problem is solved, the Numberjacks return to their base, replay what happened on a screen and then challenge the viewer to think about a related problem and "call the Numberjacks!" the problems encountered are all based upon simple mathematical concepts, and the programme is intended to stimulate young children's interest in mathematics. On satellite, digital, and cable TV, a link to Numberjacks often appeared in the corner of the screen and sometimes on (for example) gardening programmes as a way of helping people with basic numeracy. Characters Protagonists The Numberjacks are the heroes; each of the numbers 0 through 9 is an individual character and each is broadly the age of his or her number. The male Numberjacks are even numbers and the female Numberjacks are odd numbers - however, One is voiced by a male actor (Dylan Robertson, who also voices Zero). * Zero (0) (lime), One (1) (purple), and Two (2) (orange) are the youngest Numberjacks and are too young to go out on missions and are usually only seen inside the sofa, although sometimes they escape and cause problems of their own (like Zero does in the first episode, The Trouble with Nothing). Also, in One Won, One becomes enormous, as a result of the Brain Gain sent to her (and prevents the Numbertaker from sucking up Six). * Three (3) (pink), Four (4) (dark blue), Five (5) (teal), and Six (6) (yellow) are the main characters and appear in every episode; Three was considered too small a number ''to go into the real world by herself in early episodes, but later on, she is then allowed to do so with Four, Five, and Six. Then in ''3 Things Good, the launcher broke when Four was about to go out with her and she had to do a solo mission. She had been on solo missions since. Three once becomes a 4 in Being 3 to prevent the Numbertaker from sucking her up, Four becomes a 5 and a 6 in One More Time, a 14 in Into the Teens, a symmetrical 4 in More 4, and a 1, a 2 and an 8 in Half Time, and Six is once split into two 3s in Nine Lives to solve a puzzle set by the Puzzler (given that 6 is 2 lots of 3). Also, in A Different Sort, Four becomes green (as opposed to his original colour of blue), tiny, enormous, and finally wibbly-wobbly, and in Round and Round, Five becomes short, tall, thin, fat and empty when the Problem Blob traps her in a pattern. * Seven (7) (red), Eight (8) (sky blue), and Nine (9) '(green) are the eldest Numberjacks and have their own missions, but are occasionally seen if they become involved in a problem (such as that occasion when Zero accidentally made all of the other Numberjacks disappear in ''Zero the Hero). They live in another part of the sofa. Antagonists There are six evil villains, the Meanies, who often cause trouble for people; the Problem Blob, the Puzzler, and the Numbertaker are male villains, while the Shape Japer, Darcie and Spooky Spoon are female villains. Spooky Spoon also seems to appear more often than any of the other Meanies. * '''The Puzzler is somewhat of a bald, floating head of a human (with tan skin, some orange hair that looks like bubbles, a pair of green glasses, a mustache, an earring, blue eyes, and a goatee) who traps the Numberjacks inside puzzle bubbles or causes other problems and sets mathematical puzzles that have to be solved to make the problems go away; he is arguably the most fearsome enemy of the Numberjacks, as any Numberjack unable to solve one of his puzzles may be trapped in a puzzle bubble forever. He is quite intelligent and is secretly pleased when the Numberjacks solve his puzzles - and in the second series (2009), the Puzzler no longer explodes when defeated, but however, he leaves the Numberjacks (however, he still often speaks in rhyme, like Gruntilda from the Banjo-Kazooie games). The Puzzler is also an ex-disc jockey (and arguably the hardest Meanie for the Numberjacks to defeat). He is also the meanest of all the meanies. * The Problem Blob is a green blob, with a single eye on the tip of his long tongue, who spits out lumps of green slime that cause anything they touch to suffer from a particular problem; he is usually found in dark corners and does not speak, as he just heaves and splutters and makes noises. No one likes the Problem Blob - and in Almost Human, Numberjack Four gets slimed and thinks he is a person while the person, thinking he is Numberjack Four, became the "Numberjack Man". The Problem Blob causes more trouble than any other Meanie. * The Shape Japer is a purple sphere (with an angry face and sharp teeth) who causes problems by changing the shape or size of objects; she flies though the air and rarely speaks, but laughs a lot. She is able to change her shape from sphere to cube at will (and in the episode A Circle at Both Ends, a cylinder), and still smiles even when not happy - and in the second series (2009), the shape of her teeth are changed to semicircles rather than triangles (but only in the UK version). * Spooky Spoon is an anthropomorphic fuchsia spoon who mixes things up, and the Numberjacks have to sort them out; she wears a yellow necklace, has purple eyes and can masquerade as a "regular" spoon (even though she is fuchsia). She considers herself superior to everyone around and has a particularly strong dislike for Five, whom she views as a rival - and in the second series (2009), her mouth has an inner part, instead of a hollow mouth (again, only in the UK version). Spooky Spoon is the easiest Meanie for the Numberjacks to defeat, and has the most appearances. * The Numbertaker is a live-action man (with an exaggerated top hat and a white trench coat, based after an undertaker), who removes numbers (or numbers of things). As numbers themselves, the Numberjacks have to be particularly careful when dealing with him. He utilizes a "number sucker-upper", a "number grabber", a net, a magnet, a long pointed pole, a hook, and sometimes his own hands to steal things - and he sometimes becomes his alter-ego, the Numbermaker, causing problems by creating higher numbers of things. He neither speaks in any of his appearances (which the only sound he makes is noises), nor smile much either; he was multiplied twice; on both occasions the multiple versions of him despised each other and all ended up sucking each other up in Into The Teens and Half Time. Also in Half Time, he halved Four twice, and Three inadvertently doubled the blue number 1 three times (which meant the blue number 8 needed the Numbertaker to halve him again). * Darcie '''is a live-action girl (with headphones and a school uniform), Episode list The first series, consisting of 45 15-minute episodes, was premiered on BBC Two on 16 October 2006, while the second series, consisting of 20 15-minute episodes, was premiered on CBeebies in 2009; both "specials" were also exclusive to DVD and the third series onwards contained 45 15-minute long episodes each. Released episodes (2006-2009) Fanon Episodes (2018-) Fanon episodes are based off Audio Clip episodes and are turned into CGI animation and live-action episodes. ''Season 3'' * ''Bear Necessities'' * ''Penny Gain'' * ''Football Crazy'' * ''Party Animals'' * ''Slower & Lower'' * ''Fall Sorted'' * ''Noisy Night'' * ''Potato Plot'' * ''Spout and About'' (Incee spider in some countries) * ''Five A Day'' * ''Wooly Thinking'' * Puddle Muddle * ''Bun Fun'' * ''Bed Spread'' Season 4 * Sneezes and Hiccups ''Season 6'' ''Season 7'' Awards * Royal Television Society Educational Television Awards 2006 :* Awarded '''Best Schools Programme - 0-5 Years (for the episode "9 Lives")3 * Royal Television Society Educational Television Awards 2007 :* Awarded Best Schools Programme - 0-5 Years (for the episode "0 the Hero")4 UK DVD Releases Numberjacks Are On Their Way (Volume 1) (Early issues of this volume have 3, 4 and 5 watching 6 on a TV and 2 in the Brain Gain (despite appearing in these episodes) on the cover) * The Trouble With Nothing * Going Wrong, Going Long * In, Out, Shake It All About * 4 He's A Jolly Good Fellow * Boxing Day * Off Colour Calling All Agents! (Volume 2) * Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow * One More Time * Getting Heavy * Nine Lives * One Won * Best Estimate Standing By To Zoom! (Volume 3) (This volume also contained a special free Christmas CD, which was released in December 2007) * Forward Thinking * 7 Wonders * Belongings * A Game Of Two Halves * Zero The Hero * Being 3 Brain Gain! (Volume 4) (Early issues of this volume have 5 in the centre of the cover while later reissues have 4 instead) * Takeaway * The Cuck-Cuck-Cuck-Oo-Oo-Oo Bird * Out For The Count * 3 Things Good * Fair Shares * Data Day Counting Down To Christmas! (Volume 5) * The Container Drainer * Say What You Mean * May the Fours Be With You * Time Trouble * Two, Four, Six, Eight * Counting Down To Christmas (17 minutes) Seaside Adventure (Volume 6) * Bad Circles (as an extra story) * Famous 5s (as an extra story) * Into The Teens (as an extra story) * Seaside Adventure (45 minutes) ''Unnamed DVD ''(Volume 7) * Contains unknown Season 3 and 4 content Other merchandise * Books based on the episodes Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow, In, Out, Shake It All About, 4 He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and Out of Order were released in 2008, along with a sticker book based on the episode Stop and Go in 2009; three sticker scene books were also released in 2008, along with two board books entitled 3 and Me! and 4 and More!, a "pocket library" of six board books (one for each Numberjack from 1 to 6), a "magic doodle" book, a "magnet book" including ten Numberjack magnets, a "chalkboard" activity book and a "bumpy line" colouring book in 2009, a "bumper activity book" in 2010 and two hardcover annuals for 2009 & 2010 in August 2008 & 2009. A "10-Minute Tales" book based on the episode Fair Shares was also released in 2010 - which had an accompanying CD. * Four craft kits for a Numberjack Three tambourine (which depicted her as red), a clock, a reward chart, and a mobile were released in 2008. * Socks featuring the Numberjacks (in sizes 3-5½, 6-8½ and 9-12), along with pyjamas featuring them (for ages 1–4) were released in 2008. * Birthday cards featuring the Numberjacks, along with birthday and Christmas wrapping paper featuring them on five differently-coloured backgrounds (the birthday cards had "Happy Birthday" and the Christmas card had them wearing Santa Claus hats) were released in 2008. * Plush toys of Numberjacks Zero, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six were released in three sizes in 2008, but Numberjacks One, Seven, Eight, and Nine may be produced alongside Numberjacks: The Movie; jigsaw puzzles, a board game, a skittle set, footballs in two colours, a tricycle, and pairs of roller skates (in sizes 6-8½) were also released at around that time, along with edible cake decorations featuring the Numberjacks (which could be personalised) in two shapes.